Domino's mercifully cancels pizza delivery by reindeer in Japan

Franchise abandons the effort, says animals were 'difficult to control.'

Despite its best efforts, Domino's Pizza in Japan has announced that it will be cancelling its reindeer pizza delivery service.
(Photo: Domino's)

The next time Domino's wants to make deliveries via reindeer, it might want to seek guidance from the North Pole.

The Japanese arm of the global pizza franchise announced late last month that it had initiated a training program to begin reindeer deliveries in the snowy island of Hokkaido. The animals would be equipped with a special harness to hold the deliveries, as well as GPS so customers could track their orders in real-time. According to the company, the entire operation would be monitored by animal trainers.

Fortunately for everyone involved, Domino's recently declared that it was scrapping the idea due to the reindeer being "too difficult to control." As you can see in the video below, the clearly frightened animals were less than thrilled with the task.

While this was likely all a publicity stunt for the company's new GPS pizza delivery service, it's unfortunate for the reindeer that it had to happen at all. The company instead has announced a series of delivery scooters in the shape of a reindeer — a much more agreeable, and infinitely cuter, means of publicity.

Should pizza deliveries on two or four wheels still not whet the appetite of discerning households, just wait: Domino's is testing drone deliveries in New Zealand, with plans to bring the technology to a city near you in the coming years. You can check out a CNBC report on the pizza drone delivery service below.